Hearts were expected to beat Motherwell - but not by us, says Kettlewell

Motherwell interim boss Stuart Kettlewell says he felt a confidence within his side that they could beat Hearts – even though few others did.

Kettlewell says there were plenty of people who were willing to kick a club when it was down, but the players have shown a remarkable resilience to take six points from their last two games against Hearts and St Mirren.

Goals from Job Obika and Blair Spittal gave Motherwell three points that probably did burst a few coupons.

Those back-to-back Premiership wins, adding to the 2-1 win over Saints on Wednesday, have moved the Steelmen to within four points of eighth-placed St Johnstone, three ahead of Kilmarnock, and six off bottom spot.

But Kettlewell says he knew Motherwell were capable of taking six points from the two games, or he might not have put his hand up when Steven Hammell left the club.

Kettlewell said: “I could see that the players were bright and they were bubbly. There was a confidence that they could do something today – even though probably nobody else gave us a shot here today of winning this game.

Kettlewell says the Motherwell players deserve enormous credit for winning their last two games, and could have left him looking very silly had they not (SNS Group)

“I genuinely don’t think they did.

“There were plenty of people who wanted to kick a group of players and a football club while they were down, and you don’t feel sorry for yourself in those situations.

“You have to do something to change the narrative, and fortunately in the last two games the players have been able to do that.”

Kettlewell added: “I came in, agreeing to do this job, realising it’s a group of players that were capable of getting six points in the last two games, because we’ve seen it from them before.

“I wasn’t going in cold, and wondering whether that could be the case, so from that you have your little nugget of hope, so to speak, to hang onto.

Motherwell put in one of their best performances of the season to beat Hearts 2-0 today (SNS Group)

“It’s about how people respond. You could come up with the best game plan the best ideas in the world, but if people don’t execute that and deliver on it, I could be sitting here looking very silly as well.

“I was prepared to pitch myself forward for that scenario, but fortunately for me, the players have been different class.

“Full marks goes to them, and full credit genuinely has to go to them.

“They sent the group of supporters here away at Fir Park [happy] and they got something that they deserved.”

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